[kictanet] One subject, varying quality - We lack an accreditation system for ICT courses

Thu Jun 25 11:27:50 EAT 2009

Betty,

Our company (Cyber School Technology solutions ltd) has been taking part in
an MOE project dubbed 'Equipping secondary schools with e-learning
Infrastructure' over the last 12 months and can confidently report that over
800 teachers in 70 schools have been fully trained in not only ICT literacy
skill building ( Word, excel, access, trouble shooting etc) but also
utilization of Digitized content in the teaching and learning environment
for Science and Mathematics subject areas as well - using KCSE specific
curriculum that is available for the Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics and
Physics subject areas. The 800 teachers trained were mainly from these
disciplines.

Ours were only 70 of the 210 schools in this project, so I'll bet that the
number of teachers trained on this initiative alone must be well over twice
the figure quoted above.

In addition to this ICT courseware that is aligned to the KCSE syllabus was
also provided. However many of these schools did not have ICT teachers (
though many are in the process of hiring) I know that this is the new area
of focus Computer studies teachers.

I think that when it comes to secondary school ICT, it must be integrated
into the teaching and learning environments in as many subject areas as
possible. Teaching only ICT in schools is narrowing down the true potential
of the computer as a medium in schools.

After all once the suites of word , excel access is learnt what additional
value is there for the teachers and students on a day to day basis,
especially as their core purpose of students going to schools is to learn
several subjects and seek excellence in a fair number of them to pursue
careers of choice.

Although not advanced in the newspaper article, a school of thought that
needs to place the computer hardware at the centre of improvement of
learning outcomes needs to be championed by all who are involved in ICT's at
Secondary and Primary school levels. What I mean here is that the computer
alone should not be seen as the end, but the beginning, it must be the
applications that the computers will house to *improve teaching and learning
outcomes *that need to be the central focus of any school bound ICT
initiative.

I believe this is what Mr Sang was alluding to when he mentions 'ICT
Integration' being a key area of focus in the MOE.

Although the process is definately slow ( 210 schools a year should be
upgraded to 800 schools a year at the minimum) the important thing is that
the initiative has kicked off and schools are already reporting improved
grades in the science & Mathematics subjects and the technophobia that
criples the adoption of ICT's in schools is slowly being eradicated.

More does need to be done to challenge some of the perceptions that were
captured in the Newspaper article, that is for sure.

Fatma

On Wed, Jun 24, 2009 at 10:32 PM, Barnabas K. Sang
<bksang at education.go.ke>wrote:

>  Betty,
>
>
>
> Thanks for your response on the article mentioned below. Will go through it
> and perhaps respond on key issues raised, which ICT in Education has already
> done or planned. I hope it will minimize fears all of us have or may be
> persuaded to think all is totally misplaced and lost.
>
>
>
> “ICT Integration” is currently Ministry of Education focus, and steps
> already put in place are expected to make Kenya improve both teaching and
> learning environment, with better education ‘products’ across all levels.
>
>
>
> Kind regards
>
>
>
> B. K. Sang
>
>
>
>
>
> *From:* kictanet-bounces+bksang=education.go.ke at lists.kictanet.or.ke[mailto:
> kictanet-bounces+bksang <kictanet-bounces%2Bbksang>=education.go.ke@
> lists.kictanet.or.ke] *On Behalf Of *Betty Ogange
> *Sent:* Wednesday, June 24, 2009 4:31 PM
> *To:* Barnabas K. Sang
> *Cc:* KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions
> *Subject:* Re: [kictanet] One subject, varying quality - We lack an
> accreditation system for ICT courses
>
>
>
> Hallo David,
>
> Last week there was furore in this forum about media misrepresentation of
> the Kenyan situation. The article that you make reference to in today’s
> Standard (24.06.09) may be accurate in the areas that you have highlighted.
> However, I wish to take issue with a few points raised in the article.
> http://www.eastandard.net/education/InsidePage.php?id=1144017693&cid=316
>
>
>
>  *‘Unlike other academic fields, very little has been done to train most
> teachers in ICT skills. Currently, no primary teacher training college
> offers comprehensive pre-service training in information technology.’*
>
>
>
> Anyone with a modest interest in education in Kenya would not miss
> something as obvious as a subject in the national curriculum when reporting
> in a national daily. Prior to the year 2004, a few colleges had ICT skills
> courses for pre-service teachers based on in-house curricula that were
> independently developed by each college. The Primary Teacher Education (PTE)
> ICT curriculum developed by the Kenya Institute of Education has been in
> force since the year 2004 and ICT is taught as a compulsory subject in all
> primary teacher training colleges.  It is examined internally at the end of
> the first year and all students must pass in the subject, among other
> subjects, in order to proceed to second year. There are several
> implementation hitches in this programme arising from the fact that ICT is
> being taught as a discrete subject in the curriculum and has yet to be
> mainstreamed in the other subjects in the PTE curriculum. The debate around
> ICT- pedagogy integration in education and how to operationalise it right
> from curriculum development to classroom level implementation continues in
> the education circles.
>
>
>
>  *‘In-service training is often provided by trainers who are just barely
> literate in computers’*
>
>
>
> In my knowledge, this has happened especially in instances when some
> hardware providers ‘dangle’ teacher training as an additional offer to the
> institution. TTCs used to hire ICT technicians to teach the course, but in
> the last 2 years, the Teacher Service Commission has posted trained
> lecturers of ICT to a number of TTCs. There have also been some highly
> professional training offered to college lecturers by Microsoft (in
> conjunction with the Institute of Advanced Technology - IAT) and the Kenya
> Technical Teachers College. Computers for Schools Kenya and the Nepad
> e-schools teacher training programmes have also reached teachers in selected
> secondary schools. Lack of co-ordination (as with the rest of the ICT
> initiatives in Kenya ), lack of clear training targets and time-lines have
> compromised continuity and impact of some of these training programmes.
>
>
>
> *‘The entire ICT education is in tatters’*
>
> An interesting analogy there. But I see a sector that is struggling with
> what some scholars in educational reform have called an ‘implementation dip’
> – that for a number of reasons things normally tend to get worse before they
> can get better.  There are lots of difficulties in implementing large scale
> ICT initiatives in the education sector world over. In our country, there
> have been positive efforts by the Ministry of Education, the KIE and a
> number of stakeholders in education, and these do count. On the other hand,
> there has been the tendency (by education leaders) towards elaborate policy
> documents, ‘ICT networks’ and trust funds whose mandates remain
> indeterminate. All these need to be researched and accurately presented.
>
>
>
> Accurate reporting by the media and objective analysis of both the
> positives and difficulties are important in helping the public target their
> attention and effort. Besides the inaccuracies, the use of expressions such
> as ‘in tatters’ ‘the situation is bad’, ‘alarmed professionals’  ‘obsolete
> hardware’ to describe ICT in education in Kenya sounds to me fairly
> sensational.
>
>
>
> Betty
>
>
>
> --- On *Wed, 6/24/09, David Otwoma <otwomad at gmail.com>* wrote:
>
>
> From: David Otwoma <otwomad at gmail.com>
> Subject: [kictanet] One subject, varying quality - We lack an accreditation
> system for ICT courses
> To: ogange at yahoo.com
> Cc: "KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions" <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
> Date: Wednesday, June 24, 2009, 9:32 AM
>
> .....universities offer many degrees but their quality and market demand
> differ......
>
>
>
> Although nearly all universities offer degrees, only the University of
> Nairobi, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology and
> Strathmore have Master’s programmes and only UON and Jkuat teach at doctoral
> level.
>
> There is a diminishing number of staff with PhDs in ICT departments.
> According to Prof Rodrigues, UoN has the highest number of full-time
> lecturers with PhDs in ICT that stands at eight of 18, while Jkuat has three
> of six, which is the same number for Strathmore.
>
> Kenyatta University has nine full-time but none of them have a PhD or an
> equivalent qualification, while none of the Kabarak’s eight lecturers have a
> PhD. Two of six of United States International University has doctoral
> degrees.
>
> Many lecturers have no experience as ICT professionals as engineers,
> software developers or in the emerging area of computer and network
> security.
>
>
>
> See
> http://www.eastandard.net/education/InsidePage.php?id=1144017693&cid=316&<http://www.eastandard.net/education/InsidePage.php?id=1144017693&cid=316>
> for full story
>
>
> --
> David Otwoma,
> Chief Science Secretary,
> National Council for Science and Technology,
> Utalii House 9th Floor,
> Mobile tel: +254 722 141771,
> Office tel: +254 (0)20 2346915,
> P. O. Box 5687 - 00100, Nairobi, Kenya
> email: otwomad at gmail.com<http://us.mc515.mail.yahoo.com/mc/[email protected]>&
> otwoma at ncst.go.ke<http://us.mc515.mail.yahoo.com/mc/[email protected]>
> www.ncst.go.ke
>
>
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